Midnight Mass Homily – St Mary’s “A Light Has Shone in the Night”

We have come here at midnight for a reason.

Not for nostalgia.
Not for the atmosphere.
But because this is the hour when God acts.

The Church does not celebrate Christmas in daylight first.
She brings us into the night —
because salvation comes to those who sit in darkness.

Isaiah begins with a promise that has waited centuries:

“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.”

Notice who receives the light.

Not the powerful.
Not the confident.
But those who walk in darkness.

Midnight Mass is for people who know the night —
the night of fear,
the night of grief,
the night of sin,
the night of waiting.

Into that darkness, God does not send advice.
He sends a child. “For a son has been given to us.”

Salvation is given — not achieved.

Luke tells us exactly when this happens.

While the world sleeps.
While emperors count their power.
While shepherds keep watch in the cold.

God chooses the margins.
The ordinary.
The unnoticed hour.

And suddenly the night is pierced by glory.

“The glory of the Lord shone around them.”

The night cannot hold God back.

The angel’s first words matter: “Do not be afraid.”

That sentence is always spoken
when God draws very near.

Fear is what keeps us in the dark.
Fear of change.
Fear of truth.
Fear of being seen as we are.

And yet the angel announces: “Today, in the city of David,
a Saviour has been born to you.”

Not to the powerful.
Not to the deserving.

To you.

St Paul explains what this light is for. “The grace of God has appeared,
bringing salvation to all.”

Grace appears — it shows up.
It enters history.
It changes lives.

And Paul is very clear:

Grace does not only comfort us.
It trains us.

It teaches us to turn away from sin
and to live good and holy lives
while we wait for Christ’s return.

Christmas is not about the warm fuzzies.
It is salvation.

The child in the manger comes
to redeem us,
to purify us,
and to make us His own.

So why Midnight Mass?

Because Christmas happens
not when everything is bright and sorted,
but when the world is still dark.

Because salvation does not wait for morning.
Because God enters our night.

Tonight, God does not stand far off.
He comes close.

The infinite becomes small.
The eternal becomes a child.
The light enters the darkness —
and the darkness cannot overcome it.

So tonight, hear the angel’s words again:

Do not be afraid.

A Saviour has been born.
The light has shone.
The night is no longer empty.

And here, at this altar,
the same Christ who lay in the manger
comes to us again —
Body given, Blood poured out.

We kneel not in darkness,
but in hope.

For tonight,
the light has come into the world,
and the night will never be the same again.